Vending apparatus.



L; X. SOMERS.

VENDING APPARATUS. APPLIG'ATION nmm'w 30,1910.

Patented June 13, 1911.

2 SHEETS*HEET 1.

Snumvtw E. X. SOMERS.

VENDING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILM, AUG.30,19\O4 99%,882, Patented June 13, 1911.

3 luau $01.

UNITE sranns 'r EVERETT X. SOM ERS, OF ST. JOHNSBURY, VERMONT, ASSIGNDRTO AMERICAN NEWS- VENDING MACHINE 00., OF ST. .TOHNSBURY, VERMONT.

- VENDING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent. I Patented June 13, 1911.

Application filed August 30, 1910. Serial No. 579,631.

To all whom (it may concern:

Be it known that I, Evnnn'rr X. SOMERS, citizen of the United States,residing at St. Johnsbury, in the county of Caledonia and State ofVermont, have invented new and useful Improvements in Vending Apparatus,of which the following is a specification.

My present invention pertains to vending apparatus of the typecharacterized by a plurality of,compartments arranged in an upri htseries and each adapted to hold an artic e to be vended, and agravitatin-g guard adapted to be released by the depositof a check orcom or other means and so.

governed that following its release, it will descend a distancecorresponding to the height of a compartment-i. 6., sufliciently far touncover the open forward side of the compartment and permit of the readyre movalof an article therefrom.

The object of the present invention is to provide in a vending apparatusof the kind set forth,.simple, compact, durable and re-' liable meansfor governing the descent ofv low its upper end.

The invention will be best understood by reference to the followingdescription when taken in connection with the accompanying illustrationof. one specific embodiment thereof, while its scope will be moreparticularly pointed out in the appended claim.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a perspective of my novel apparatus withtho gravitating guard at an intermediate point 1n.its,traverse. Fig. 2is an elevation, partly in sec.-

tion, showing the gravitating guard and the vertical rack thereon, inthe front section of the casing. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken inthe plane indicatedby the line" 3 3 ofFig. 1, looking downward. Fig. 4is an enlarged broken frontelevation showing the back section or plateof the casing and the parts parriedby said plate at the forward sidethereof. Fig. 5 is a detail elevation taken at a right angle to Fig.land showing the mechanism'for governing the descent of the gravitatingguard. Fig. 6 is a vertical prised in the apparatus, and B is the backplate of said casing. The front section comprises a front wall a inwhich is a large opening I) and a check or coin slot 0, atop wall d, andside walls 6 having inturncd flanges f at their rear ends. In one of theside walls 6 is an opening 9 in which a check or coin receptacle h isremovably secured in approved manner. 'It will also be observed thatvertical gnidcways 2' are fixed to the rear side of the front wall a, atopposite sides of the large opening therein, and that a sub-wall isfixed in the section A immediately above said large opening 1).

The back plate 13 of the casingis arranged between the side walls 0 ofsection A and immediately opposed to the flanges f thereon and issuitably connected in a fixed manner to said flanges.

C is the gravitating guard which is movable vertically back (are...front walli'a of section A. and in the guideways i, and D is a verticalrack fixed to and movable with the said guard. I

As before stated, the back plate B forms a fixed part of the casingwhich is necessary since said back plate carries the superposedcompartments E andthe coin chute F as well as the mechanism forgoverning the step by step descentof the guard C. The

compartments E are open at their forward ends and are designed to beexposed one by one through the large opening I) as the uard C descends.It will also be noted that the horizontal walls of the compartments arenotched, as indicated by is in oider to enable a. patron to readily takehold of'and withdraw an article in an uncovered compartment. Thecoin-chute F is fixed to one side of the series of compartments E,

i into the receptacle ii. I prefer to depress the and its upper end isregistered with. the coin slot 0 while its lower portion is providedwith a vertical slot Z disposed in the direction of the width of theapparatus.

Find with respect to the back plate B, the coin chute F and the seriesof compartments E and arranged immediately below the latter is a frameG, and carried by the said frame is the mechanism for governing thedescent of the guard D. The said mechanism comprises avertically-swinging lever 1 fulcrumed at an intermediate point of itslength and having one of its ends disposed in the slot Z of chute F soas to be depressed by a coin moving downward through said chute,-

and provided at its opposite end with a depending portion 2; a shaft 3having fixed thereon a spur pinion a which is intermeshed with the rackD of guard C, a comparatively-large toothed disk 5 which is mounted in aloose manner on the shaft 3 and is provided with a spring-backed pawl Gto engage a ratchet disk 7 thatis fast on the shaft 3; and a pendentlever 8, fulcrumed at 9 ,on the frame Gin position to swing to and froin a plane parallel to that of the toothed disk 5 and having lateralportions 10 at opposite sidesof its center of movement, designed toalternately enter an interdental space in the disk 5.

The practical operation of mytnovel appa: ratus is as follows: When acom is deposited in the slot 5, it -drops through the chute F andmomentarily depresses the outer arm of.

the vertically swinging lever 1, after which it drops from the lower endof chute F and outer arm of lever l by the deposit of a coin as stated,but do not desire to be understood as confining myself to the same,inasmuch as the said outer arm of lever 1 may be de pressed by any meanswithout involving dc parture from the scope of my claimed inven tion.The depression of the outer arm of lever l, raises the depending portion2 there of out of'an interdcntal space in the spur pinion t and releasesthe gravitating guard C which then descends, and through its rack Dturns the pinion 4, shaft .3 and toothed disk 5. The pendent lever 8normally hangs free and hence when the disk is turnedas stated, the saidlever is caused, by its portions '10 being engaged by teeth of the disk5, to oscillate. This oscillation of the lever 8 effectually assures apause or dwell in the rotation of the disk and spur pinion l followingthe initial movement thereof, and the said pause or dwell enables thedepending portion 2 of the lever l to enter the interdental space.- inspur pinion l that is back of and next to the space it formerlyoccupied. From this it follows that when (l, the said guard will"descend a suflicient distance to uncover the front of one compartment Ebut no more, and then the guard will be locked and will be held againstfurther gravitation until another coin is deposited in slot 6*.

I loosely 'mount? the disk 5 on the shaft 3 and connect the said diskwith the shaft through the medium of the described pawl and ratchet, orany other suitable means, in order to assure the disk 5 turning with theshaft 3 in the direction indicated by arrow in Fig. 6, and yet permit ofthe guard C being raised by hand and the spur pinion 4 and shaft 3 beingrotated, during said rais 'ing, in the direction opposite to thatindicated without interference from the disk 5 and lever B; it beingnecessary after the articles to be vended are placed in the compartmentsE, to raise the guard C from its lowermost position to its uppermostposition by hand in order to place the apparatus in condition foroperation.

It will be appreciated from the foregoing that in addition to beingsimple and compact in construction and reliable in operation, my novelmeans for governing the step by step descent of the guard C, is strongand durable and is therefore well adapted to withstand the rough usageto which vending apparatus is ordinarily subjected.

While I have shown and described one form of my invention, it is to beunderstood that- I am not limited tothe details or the form or relativearrangement of parts disclosed, but that modifications may be madetherein, within the scope of the appended claim. 0'

Having described;iny'iinvention, what I claim and-desire to secureby-Letters-Patent,

In a vending apparatus, the combination of a casing, an -=upright seriesof compartmcnls therein, a gravitatingguard movable in the casingtandprovided with a rack, a spur-pinion mounted in the casing andinternu-shcd' with the rack' of the gravitating guard, a lever having adepending portion positioned to enterthe-interdental spaces of the spurpinion and also having anarm adapted to he'moved, a shaftto which thespur pinion fixed, a-toothed disk loose on the shaft, means intermediatesaid toothed disk and the shaft for assuring rotation of. the disk whenthe shaft is turned in one direction by gravitation of the guard and for'iermitting rotation of the shaft in the oppo-, site directionindependently of the disk, and

a pendent and free-hanging lever pivoted at my hand in presence of twosubscribing wita point above the toothed disk and in a1inemesses. mentwith the center thereof and having at opposite sides of the verticalcenter of the EVERErlT SOMERS disk, portions adapted to alternatelyenter Nit-messes:

Amos W. SCOTT,

an interdental space of the disk.

HENRY A. Sco'rr.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set

